Just Playing!

 

A new tenant has arrived in the garden!

I have been having fun in the studio the last couple of weeks- doing stuff  "Just for fun"!  It's a joy to have no looming deadlines, nothing that HAS to be done anytime soon.  At first I was a bit lost at sea without the list. But then I decided to enjoy it while it lasts!

Of course, part of  the incentive for the playing is so I can get to know the new tenant in the sewing room.  I must have been a good girl last year because I got this elna "excellence" for my birthday!  I wanted a quickie project I could use to push lots of buttons and get to know how this machine and I will get along.  (even thoughI've had an elna for years- and Love it!)

So I dug into the scrap basket and found some strips left over from old projects that went together nicely and decided to piece them all together and see what I got.  I strip pieced, cut then pieced again, then used the bits I had cut off for smaller pieces- just playing! Here's what I ended up with.

OK, so what do we do with these?
Cut them up, of course!  Now, what else does it need??  I know, I'll dig in the bins and find a fabric to put in between the pieced sections.  Something to give the piece some unity, right?
















I found a nice hand marbled piece made by one of the members of the ArtCGirlz! Ooh!  That has potential! But what else does it need???

Lime green of course!!!!  So this is where I left off when last I had time to work in the studio. I had planned lots of thread work and embellishments, but now I'm not sure it will need much.  Stay tuned.

For a "quickie" project, it has turned into kind of a major work, but the important part is I am just having so much fun doing this!










In the same issue of Quilting Arts where Mary read about ice cube dyeing, I found the article about finger paint mono-printing, which sounded like fun!
It was!  I tried some finger painting, and a little stamping and a comb.











Then I used a silicone hot pad I found somewhere to see how that looked.  At first I didn't like how uneven the paint was, but then I decided it's a pretty cool texture, even the blobs on the edges!









For this one, I used a metallic paint, and stamps, over a piece I had used to absorb the extra paint from a paintstiks piece I had done.


What will I do with them?  Well, I just got this paper bag full of oddities to use in a project, so...  who knows?   I'll just play!






I am grateful for:
Regular rainfall allowing me to work at my own pace in the garden.
The wonders of nature I wouldn't enjoy if I weren't always out there pulling the darned weeds!
The people in my life who make even simple events special.
Time to play!
Being in a good place at work, finally!